


Infiltration and Deception

by billypancakes



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Among us is just danganronpa with beans, Angst, Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Imposters are aliens, M/M, Multi, POV swapping, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Recreational Drug Use, Swearing, change my mind
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27044041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billypancakes/pseuds/billypancakes
Summary: A group of ten crewmates are sent on a mission to Polus from MIRA HQ. Little do they know that three of them are not what they seem. Will they make it to Polus successfully?
Relationships: Crewmate/Impostor (Among Us)
Comments: 52
Kudos: 110





	1. Blue

**Author's Note:**

> soooooo, this is my first fanfic i've ever actually published. i'm looking forward to see any feedback i receive. i plan on uploading around 4 chapters a week, probably around every other day. fingers crossed i can do that.
> 
> i was inspired to write this by Elizabeth_Inkheart's Skeld Series. please give it a read :)

“These walls are so tacky.”

Blue looked up from the wires he was connecting. His fellow crewmate, Pink, was eying on said “tacky” wall with distain.

“What do you mean by tacky? It’s just a wall.”

The flower atop Pink’s head swayed as the he turned towards the engineer. Blue could feel the irritation radiating off of the other man, despite the architect’s face being obscured by the thick glass of his helmet. 

“It’s ugly. Come on, that shade of blue is just about the worst color I’ve ever seen. It looks absolutely atrocious with the white, which, by the way, isn’t even a true white. Not to mention the lights…”

Pink huffed, placing his hands on his hips as he continued to complain about the wall. Blue was baffled by how worked up the man had gotten over a simple bridge. He finished connecting the wires and screwed the panel back on.

Despite the equipment all crewmates at MIRA Headquarters was required to wear, a potent herbal scent wafted down the hallway. This oder was accompanied by two figures, both clad in bright green space suits. Lime strode down the hallway, the window of his helmet completely filled with smoke. A small bean-like creature with tiny legs ran behind him, struggling to keep up with its owner.

“Hurry up, Bongwater. Daddy’s got the munchies,” Lime stopped a few feet in front of the two men on the bridge, “Yo! Blue, Pink! What’s goin’ on?”

Pink tilted his head upward, the action most likely done in attempt to convey turning up his nose at the inebriated chemist. 

“Lime, I believe White had told you not to smoke while wearing your helmet. I seem to remember her expressly forbidding everyone from smoking while at MIRA altogether.”

The chemist laughed, waving his hands in a dismissive manner, “Don’t worry about it, cotton candy.”

Blue looked over at his companion, who had stepped forward, towards the stoned crewmate. The air was filled with murderous intent, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. 

Footsteps echoed from behind the engineer, causing him to whip his head around. A comically large pile of files and paperwork was balanced in the arms of a violet suited crewmate.

“Hey Purple, did you need any help with those?”

The biologist peeked her head around the pile, “Blue? Yeah, that would be great. I wasn’t too keen on lugging these over to the office all by myself,” She sighed, “Why the hell aren’t these files digitalized?”

The engineer lifted the top half of stack, revealing an almost relieved looking Purple. Shifting her shoulders back with a crunch, the biologist let out a groan before glancing over at the bickering Lime and Pink.

“What’s going on with those two?”

Blue shrugged, “Who knows? It’s always one thing or the other. Let’s just get these to the office.”

“Sounds good to me,” Purple trailed after Blue, who was already on his way north. She patted the head of Lime’s bean creature had as she passed by. The rotund creature known as “Bongwater”, let out a squeak.

Pink and Lime were still in a stare down as Purple and Blue headed towards the office. The engineer glanced down at his companion, he and the biologist weren’t super close, but he still found her more down-to-earth and no-shit-taking attitude comforting. 

The woman was one of the more “normal” crewmates on the ship. Where Pink was a neurotic architect with an eye for perfection and Lime was a perpetually stoned chemist, Purple was curious yet logical biologist. 

The only real bizarre thing Blue had observed was Purple’s habit of falling asleep in random places and random times. He remembered being panicked when he had found the violet suited crewmate sitting on the floor of the laboratory, slumped over and unresponsive. 

Assuming the worst, the engineer had ran over to the biologist, unable to make out any rise and fall of her chest beneath the bulky MIRA issued equipment they were all forced to wear. Blue had shaken her, partially relieved and surprised when Purple’s previously limp right arm had collided with the side of his head. She had apologized profusely after that.

“I’m so sorry. I have narcoleptic fits from time to time,” Purple had said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. 

“Hey. Whatcha thinking about?”

Blue was snapped from his thoughts as the biologist nudged him.

“Uhh… just about the tasks I still need to get done. Gotta unlock the manifolds in reactor.” The engineer bluffed. It was less of a bluff and more of a deflection, as he actually did have tasks in reactor. 

“Mind if I tag along? I don’t know why, but I always get a really ominous feeling when I’m walking around by myself.”

Blue understood what she meant. There had been rumors about alien creatures called “imposters” invading MIRA’s facilities. Massacres had taken place on the stations, space ships, and even foreign planet expeditions. These attacks had slowed in the recent months, but Purple’s worry was understandable.

“Sure. Let’s just drop these-” the engineer gestured to the pile of paperwork in his hands, “in the office.”

The pair strode into said room, overhearing a conversation.

“Okay, but EDM is where it’s at. If you like music without lyrics, it’s totally the genre for you.”

“Cyan, I appreciate the recommendations, but I am more than happy with my playlist.”

“But contemporary jazz and classical music is so borrrrring! How can you listen to this?”

Turning the corner, Blue and Purple saw their fellow crewmates, Cyan and Brown having a heated discussion about what Blue assumed to be music genres. The two navigators sat at the computers towards the far wall, the headphone wearing Cyan bouncing on an orange exercise ball that had somehow found its way into the office. Brown looked annoyed, at least as annoyed as someone could look with his face mostly obscured by his helmet. 

“Hi Blue and Purple! I was just telling Brown about the joy of EDM.”

Purple lugged the papers over to the desk by the tired navigator, plopping them down on the surface with a *thwump*. Blue followed suit, placing his paperwork gently on top of the pile. 

“We heard,” the biologist said, stretching out her arms, “Gotta disagree with you though. Jazz slaps.”

Blue sighed, taking a seat next to the exasperated Brown, “Are you doing okay Brown?”

“She has been talking nonstop about EDM for THREE HOURS,” the usually composed navigator seemed rather frustrated with his partner. 

Another bean creature with tiny legs hopped onto the desk. This one matching in color to Cyan. It nudged Blue’s gloved hand, looking up at the engineer. Much like Bongwater, Cyan’s mini crewmate, called Jellybean, could only make squeaking noises. 

Blue held his hand out, Jellybean squeaking gleefully and hopping into it. He patted the small creature’s head as he listened to Brown mumble about how he was too tired to deal with the other navigator’s mad ramblings. He could hear Cyan trying to explain why EDM was superior to any other genre of music as Purple entered information from the paperwork into the computer’s database. 

“I think I’m just about done. Do you want to head over to reactor and get started on your task, Blue? I’ll meet you over there in a few minutes.”

Placing Jellybean back down of the table to the cyan bean’s chagrin, Blue nodded, “That sounds good to me. I’ll see you over there then”


	2. Brown

Brown waved at Blue as the engineer left, glancing at Cyan, who had put her headphones back on. He could hear muffled EDM coming from the turquoise suited navigator. 

Purple rolled over to Brown, her office chair coming to a stop in front of him. She too looked over at Cyan, ensuring that the other woman was distracted. She began to speak in their shared tongue.

"“Can we talk real quick?”"

"“About what?”"

"“The third imposter. I don’t trust him, Azrael. He’s a loose cannon.”"

Brown tapped his chin, he and Purple had joined the crew in order to get back to Polus. They had always been a formidable pair in their assigned missions, however this was different. Neither of them wanted to kill unless forced, as the crew was important in getting them to the frigid planet. 

It had seemed like an easy trip, two weeks at MIRA’s headquarters for training and preparation, three weeks on the Skeld, and once they reached Polus they would have all the time in the world. Neither of them had expected a third imposter to board the ship. The creature in question was 

"“We’ll worry about it when the time comes, D’ehdrrah. Let’s bide our time and see what he does before doing anything too brash. Just focus on keeping the engineer safe.”"

Purple made a hissing sound, "“I doubt that the mindless, smooth-brained, bloodthirsty beast is going to distinguish between who he kills. As far as he knows, we’re just crewmates. Who’s to say he won’t kill one of us?”"

"“Then what do you propose? That we kill him first?”"

"“We should travel in a group of three. You, me, and Blue. Even a noob wouldn’t try something in a trio. Let him get a kill or two, and then cast doubt on him. Even if he figures out our identities, nobody will believe an imposter. Then we just make it look like he killed himself.”"

Brown sighed, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Purple’s scheme, but she had a point. There weren't any glaring holes in the plan. He still had his concerns though.

“"What if the crew figures out that there’s more imposters? We need scapegoats. Even more so, we need to figure out how we’re going to a safety plan when things go south. Neither of us can indefinitely prove our innocence.”"

The biologist chuckled, "“I’m already one step ahead of you. I was able to access the task database on the Skeld. Once we’re rid of the other imposter, it’ll be safer to travel in pairs. We just need to partner up with someone who can be proved innocent and wait until we reach Polus to kill them.”"

“"What does any of that have to do with how we can feign innocence?”"

“"Blue, White, and Pink all have medbay scans,"” Purple said, pulling out her tablet and handing it to her fellow imposter. 

Sure enough, the profiles of said crewmates were displayed on the screen, “Medbay Scan” listed beneath each of them. Brown looked at his partner, a sharp toothed grin barely visible beneath the thick glass of her visor. 

“"That sounds like a plan to me,"” the navigator paused, “"Unrelated, didn’t you tell Blue you’d meet him in reactor?”"

Purple launched herself from the office chair she had been sitting on, over a desk, before booking it out of the office. Cyan, still wearing her headphones, turned around, just catching the blur of violet dashing through the office. Brown looked at her, praying she hadn’t heard any of their previous conversation.

The female navigator shrugged, turning up her music and going back to what she was doing. Brown sighed, relieved, at least until he heard a *thud* from outside. Figuring Purple was playing up her reputation as a "clumsy scientist", he shrugged and continued to work

Jellybean trotted up to Brown, hopping a little when it stopped in front of him. The navigator looked down at the cyan colored bean, who jumped up, falling on its behind and squeaking.

The imposter smiled at the small rotund critter, rubbing its head with a gloved hand.

“"Fucking superb, you funky little creature”"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one of my friends decided to make fanart of lime and bongwater. shout out to that absolute madlad. https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/753039233039597618/766788022262824980/1602886849406.png?width=377&height=534


	3. Blue

The reactor room at MIRA HQ had always been intimidating to Blue. He hadn’t understood why the crew was forced to wear the heavy suits that they did, at least until he had seen the reactor. The bright ball of energy being used to harvest energy hummed loudly, drowning out most nearby sounds.

Ignoring the foreboding feeling in his gut, the engineer entered the room, approaching the large control panel. Even behind the panel, the heat from the reactor was noticeable through his suit. 

Blue did his best to focus on the number pad in front of him instead of the ominous noises the reactor was making. He just wanted to be in and out, wishing that he had waited until Purple was done in the office before going to the reactor. 

Where was Purple anyway? She said she would only be a few minutes. Blue couldn’t help the sinking feeling that was slowly taking over him. He punched in the final numbers before turning around. He came face to chest with a tall dark suited man.

Black looked down at the engineer, completely silent as Blue jumped back in shock.

“Christ, Black! You scared the hell out of me! Couldn’t you have let me know you were here first?”

The security guard cocked his head to the side pointing at the entrance to the reactor room, “I knocked.”

Of course, the reactor would have drowned out such a sound. Blue took a deep breath, “My bad. I was focusing on unlocking the manifolds on the control panel. Did you need something?”

Black stayed silent for a moment before speaking, “Red wanted us to meet in the cafeteria.”

“Did he say why?”

Suddenly a muffled *thud* came from outside the reactor. Both Black and Blue rushed out to see what it was. Purple was on the floor, a sizable dent in the wall next to her. 

“Ah, son of a bitch,” the biologist whined, rubbing her hip.

“How…how do you even manage to run into a wall?” Blue asked, bewildered. Perhaps he was wrong in saying that Purple was one of the more normal crewmates.

“Are you okay?” Black offered the biologist a hand, the woman in question taking it. 

“I forgot the door was there,” Purple pointed, “and the wall was there, I’m all good though!”

As if to reassure Black, Purple gave the security guard a shaky thumbs up. She stepped back gingerly, pulling her arm away from him.

“Anyway, sorry for not meeting up with you earlier, Blue. I ran into a few issues with the computer. Did you already finish your task in there?”

“Yeah, I did. Black actually came her to let us know that Red wanted to meet in the cafeteria.”

Purple recoiled slightly, Blue seeing her grimace beneath the glass visor covering her face. She had made it no secret that she disliked the aggressive captain. Red cared very little for the scientists on the expedition, including Purple and Lime. 

Additionally, the captain was not a fan of the biologist’s tendency to fall asleep on the job. He chastised the narcoleptic scientist for napping in public areas, such as the cafeteria. Overall, the two often butted heads.

“Wonderful. Can’t wait to get bitched at. Again,” Purple deadpanned.

“I’m sure it’s just about tomorrow. We’re going to be on the Skeld for a while, so he’s probably going to go over the preparations.”

Purple yawned, “I’m getting tired just thinking about it. It’s going to put me to sleep regardless, sleeping disorder be damned.”

Black had been silent for a while, but spoke up in his monotonous voice, “Blue’s right. Red wanted to go over some last minute information.”

“What kind of last minute information?” Blue inquired.

“Didn’t say.”

Frustrated at the lack of information Black had given him, Blue began to walk to the cafeteria. Purple tagged along, jogging to catch up with the engineer. 

“Better slow down, Purple. We wouldn’t want to run into any more walls,” he joked, hearing a faint exhale from the biologist.

“Funny.”

Purple’s voice sounded exhausted. In the thirteen days Blue had known her, he had come to associate this behavior as a precursor to a narcoleptic fit. Blue could see Purple’s dragging her feet as she walked.

“Do you need help getting to the cafeteria?”

“Mmmh? Nah, I should be fine. We’re almost there anyway.”

Purple was right, they were just crossing the south-east sector, the sensor marking flashed orange as they walked over it. Turning the corner, the pair caught sight of most of the crew. 

Lime was sprawled out on the floor of the cafeteria, Bongwater sitting on his chest, and Pink looking down at them in distain from his seat. White seemed to be absorbed on something on her tablet, the medic not even looking up at the newcomers. Green sat at the far end of the table also toying with his tablet. 

Blue caught Purple eying the maintenance man cautiously from behind him. Dismissing the biologist’s stare, Blue approached the table sliding into a seat next to Pink. Red and Orange were nowhere to be seen. 

Purple began to follow Blue, stopping when a brown clad arm grabbed her wrist and tugged her to the other side of the table, across from the engineer. Brown and Cyan had entered the cafeteria, Black trailing behind the pair as they took their seats. 

The cafeteria was quiet for a bit, the silence only broken by the clicking noise Green and White were making using their tablets. Brown cleared his throat, speaking up.

“So we’re just waiting on Red and Orange, yeah?”

“Seems that way,” White quipped, her attention still on the device she held.

“It’s pretty irresponsible for a captain to be late to a meeting he called, don’t you think?” Purple said, yawning, “Red better hurry up, I’m getting tired.”

“You can take a nap later, sleeping beauty. We have some stuff to go over.”

Red strode into the cafeteria, taking a seat at the head of the table. Blue could feel the murderous intent filling the room. The captain and biologist were having an intense stare down.

“Hey, hey. Let’s not fight. I’m sure this meeting won’t take too long.”

Purple sighed, resting her head on the table. Red, still annoyed, continued.  
“As you all know, we depart for Polus tomorrow. We’ll be boarding the Skeld and traveling aboard for about three weeks to a month. Orange will be here as mission control until we reach our destination, he said he needed to talk with MIRA about some things, hence his absence.”

Blue frowned beneath his helmet. Despite Red giving reason for the crewmate’s absence, he couldn’t help but feel like something was off. A cursory glance at Purple and Brown revealed the latter with a similar expression on his face.

“Now, as you all know, imposter attacks on ships have become quite common. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough information to determine a normal crewmate from one of these creatures. Medical scans can clear a crewmate, however, very few crewmates require them. Most of you were able to get medical evaluations done before coming here, so the scan won’t activate for those crewmates,

White piped up, “But why can’t we just rescan everyone on the ship? Surely MIRA would allow it if we could expose an imposter so early on.”

Red shrugged, “I don’t know why MIRA doesn’t require everyone to rescan, but it’s their mission. I’m not here to question their practices, I’m here to do my job.”

The medic huffed, turning back to her tablet. Green hadn’t looked up from his since the start of the meeting, Red giving the maintenance man a glare before continuing the briefing.

“There’s no way to tell if any imposters have invaded our crew yet. Everyone should be on guard regardless. Travel in groups and focus on your tasks. Each person has their own living quarters with a bedroom and attached bathroom. These rooms will only open for their specific resident, any other people entering a room that does not belong to them will be reported and recorded. This is a safety precaution to prevent imposters from sneaking in at night and killing us.

“In the case that an imposter strikes, you have a button in your suit to report any bodies you might find. Additionally, there is a button in the cafeteria that can be used to call meetings. There we can vote for who we think the imposter is. The crewmate with the most votes will be ejected out of the held for questioning and thrown out of the airlock if found suspicious.”

Several crewmates at the table gasped at this declaration. Purple bolted up, “Don’t you think that’s barbaric? You would just eject someone into the cold empty void of space because they were ‘suspicious’?”

“Sit. Down.” Red enunciated, “I may be the captain, but I work for MIRA first. If they want us to throw imposters out the airlock, who am I to stop it?”

“But what if they aren’t imposters? What if you eject an innocent person into space?” Purple countered.

“It is what it is. If we eject an innocent it was done in the pursuit of justice.”

The biologist’s face was contorted in rage. Purple looked like she was about to vault over the table and hit Red. Blue was relieved when Brown tugged the woman back by her air tank. 

“Now may I continue?” Red asked, sarcastically before continuing, “Suspected imposters may be thrown out of the airlock if proven to be a danger. These imposters are also responsible for issues around the ship, such as damaging integral units to the ship, such as the reactor, O2 unit, lights, and communications. If O2 or reactor are sabotaged, everyone is to immediately head to the affected area and fix it. Refusal to do so raises suspicion.”

Pink raised his hand, “I have a question. How can you tell if an imposer killed someone or a crewmate did?”

“Why would a crewmate kill someone?” Blue interjected before Red could say anything.

The architect stood up, pulling his tablet out and placing it on the table. A holographic image of the Skeld was projected on it.

“This is the Skeld. As you can see, it is rather large. However,” Pink zoomed in on the living quarters, “we will all be living in rather close proximity. Now what happens when you put 10 people, with possible imposters in their midst, on a ship for a month?”

Blue narrowed his eyes, trying to make sense of what Pink was implying. Suddenly it made sense.

“You think we might go crazy and kill each other?”

“Precisely. Even with the threat of imposters on the ship, who’s to say that human emotion and built up tension can’t cause a murder? Take Purple and Red for example,” Pink pointed, “I can’t imagine the two coexisting with each other for a week, let alone a month. Imposter or not, the possibility is pretty high.”

Red slammed his hands down on the table, startling most of the crew aside from Green, “That’s enough, Pink! I’m confidant that only the imposters would kill the crewmates. Additionally, I doubt a scientist would be able to overpower me.”

Purple abruptly stood up, knocking her seat over. The woman stormed out of the cafeteria, likely heading towards the labs. Blue made to go after her, but Red had stood in front of him. 

“The meeting isn’t over yet, Blue. Do I need to write you up for disobeying a captain’s orders?”

Irritated, Blue took his seat again. He understood why Purple had such an aversion to the man now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's a list of each crewmate's role  
> Red: Captain  
> Orange: Misson Control  
> Lime: Chemist  
> Green: Maintenance   
> Cyan: Navigator (Co-Pilot)  
> Blue: Engineer  
> Purple: Biologist  
> Brown: Navigator (Pilot)  
> Black : Security Guard/Mechanic  
> White: Medic


	4. Purple

Purple strode across the Y-shaped bridge, the imposter restraining herself from stomping a hole in the glass flooring. Who was Red to insult her in front of the whole crew? The egocentric bastard didn’t do shit for the mission, he just took orders from MIRA and passed them to the rest of the crew.

““Fuckin’ twat. I’d snap his little twig neck before he put a hand on me. If anyone should get yeeted out the airlock, it’s that fuckin’ jackass”” she swore beneath her breath.

The biologist arrived in the hallway leading to the lab. Deciding against going to the obvious location, Purple made her way to the garden. She walked around the large tree in the center and sat down in front of the vent. 

Listening closely for any footsteps or voices, Purple could determine that everyone was still in the cafeteria. She let out a sigh, reaching up to disengage the locks on her helmet. With a soft hissing noise, the helmet was removed.

Purple inhaled deeply, the air was fresh in the garden, the flowers emitting a pleasant aroma that contrasted greatly to the heavily filtered air in the station. The garden was nice and warm as well, an inviting environment for a cold blooded creature. 

She wanted to do nothing more than take a nap beneath the large tree. The biologist was just tired all the time. Imposters had very slow resting heart rates, which lead to them sleeping for days at a time. Purple was no exception, however, a failed mission had contributed to further slowing her heartbeat. 

Purple looked at her reflection in the visor of the helmet. Her human form wasn’t anything special, just a pale woman in her mid-twenties. The imposter detested the stringy brown hair that clung to her scalp, missing the smooth, tentacle-like appendages that were usually present. 

A closer examination of her reflection revealed an almost blue hue tinting Purple’s lips. The imposter frowned, despite the disguise, her low body temperature still showed on her human visage. 

Such a small detail may be overlooked by most crewmates, but White would definitely be an issue. Having a medic aboard the ship wasn’t a complete shock, but White was very observant. Purple would have to keep her helmet on around the other woman. 

Resting her arms on her knees, Purple leaned forward, deep in thought. She should have expected MIRA to have instated a protocol to get rid of potential imposters. But throwing someone out of an airlock into the vast depths of space just seemed so barbaric. 

Purple may have killed many a crewmate in her career, but deaths by her hand were swift. To be launched into a cold empty void, wondering when you’d finally die. The very thought haunted the imposter. Of course Red would be fully on on board with the idea, the captain was a bastard, through and through.

The biologist wanted to kill him first, he posed a threat to her and Brown. However, after Pink’s point of rising tensions between her and he captain, Purple would immediately be the first suspect. The woman prayed that the third, wild card imposter would take the bastard out first. He seemed to be very different from herself and Brown, much younger than the pair.

Brown had been against the idea of targeting the third imposter off the bat. By killing a potential ally, their chances of taking out the rest of the crew quickly would decrease. On the other hand, if the other imposter’s age was anything to go by, he likely did not yet know of their presence. 

Purple saw this as both an advantage and a liability. If he didn’t know there were other imposters on the ship, then he couldn’t rat the pair out. On the other hand, if he was caught, it would be revealed that other imposters were aboard the ship. 

She had begun to concoct a plan in order to thin out the crew and get rid of the third imposter when she heard footsteps coming her way. Listening closely, she deduced that the footsteps likely belonged to Blue. Sighing, the imposter got to her feet, a familiar feeling of exhaustion and frigidness hitting her like a truck. 

“Purple! Are you in here?”

Blue’s voice rang out from the laboratory, the imposter’s guess having been right. Purple came out from behind the tree, stumbling slightly over the plants scattering the garden. She grabbed her helmet from the ground, a lethargic feeling slowly creeping through her body. 

“There you are!”

Purple looked up, seeing the engineer entering the garden. He paused slightly, likely at the sight of his unhelmeted comrade. The imposter caught a glimpse of an expression she couldn’t quite pin.

“Uh, you should probably put your helmet back on before Red comes in here and has a fit.”

The biologist took a hot second to comprehend the words before slowly replying, “Right. I’ll do that,” she yawned, “probably.”

Blue continued to stare at Purple, making her nervous. Had she accidentally shifted back to her imposter form without knowing. Taking a small step back, the biologist laughed awkwardly, “Is there something on my face?”

“You’re cold, aren’t you?”

Taken aback, the imposter momentarily panicked before remembering how her reflection had looked. Rubbing the back of her neck bashfully, Purple nodded, “A bit, yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

“‘Purple, your lips are turning blue. That’s not usually a sign of someone being ‘a bit’ cold.”

Pretending like she hadn’t already seen them, the biologist held up her helmet again, checking her reflection again. If anything, the discoloration was more prominent than earlier. 

“Huh, I guess you’re right. The temperature control in my suit must be busted or something.”

Blue gave her a skeptical look, barely visible beneath the glass visor obscuring his face. 

“Wow, Purple. You’re not looking too hot.”

The woman in question nearly jumped, the engineer yelping in shock. Brown had snuck up on the pair. Purple rubbed her temples, “Fucking hell, Brown. Can you not sneak up on us?”

Brown shrugged, a shit eating grin on his face, “I kid, I kid. But seriously, you look exhausted.”

Purple placed her helmet back on her head, the headwear attaching with a hissing noise. Once it had been secured, the biologist responded, “I AM exhausted. I appreciate the concern you two have, but I really need to be left alone right now.”

Blue nodded looking a bit hurt for a moment. Brown on the other hand, spun around, grabbing the engineer’s arm and pulled him down the hallway, “You heard the lady. Let’s get some food.”

Purple smiled slightly at the sound of Blue’s protests as Brown dragged him away. The imposter walked back to her original spot, laying down beneath the tree. Consequences be damned, the biologist would deal with everything later. A chill passed through her body as darkness overtook her.


	5. Brown

“Come on, Blue. Let’s go to the cafe or something.”

Brown had said crewmate’s arm clutched in his grasp as the imposter pulled Blue down the Y-shaped hallway. The engineer seemed to want to go back, but seemingly resigned himself to his fate.

The imposter thought back to his partner. Purple had looked genuinely distressed and tired, which was not a good sign. Brown was concerned about her, if she was already having a hard time on the station, he could only imagine how bad the Skeld would be for her.

They had worked together on so many missions, the pair being one of the most successful units at their old agency. Both him and Purple had taken up the profession very early in their lives, making killing almost a second nature.

Brown, who had always lived an impoverished life, jumped at the opportunity to make some money and gain status. However, after a decade of missions, he had grown to loathe the profession. He was sick of all the killing, just wanting to live a quiet life now that he was financially secure.

Purple had never disclosed her reason for picking up the profession, always claiming that it wasn’t important. 

They truly came from very different backgrounds, the effect of their home planets visible on their bodies. Brown was from a very cold and snowy planet, white feathers covering his head and limbs and six eyes to catch sight of any prey. This allowed him to stay warm and blend in with the environment, as well as track any creatures attempting to hide.

Purple on the other hand, was a more amphibious imposter, her biology consisting of scales and tentacles. The shimmering scales could refract light, letting the imposter camouflage for short periods of time, while the tentacles extended her range of attack without the use of a firearm. 

With their abilities combined, the pair was an unstoppable force. At least they were until a few years ago. Brown gritted his teeth just thinking about it. 

It was a simple mission, infiltrate a ship, eliminate the crew, and get out of there. Everything had been going smoothly, half the crew had already been taken care of. That was until some yellow suited bastard called a meeting and claimed that Purple had vented in front of him.

The meeting had escalated to a confrontation and eventually lead to the near death of the pair. Despite the hardships they had gone through, Brown and Purple were forced into another mission less than two weeks after the incident.

“Brown! Are you listening? We already passed the cafeteria.”

The imposter was snapped back to his senses by Blue tugging at his arm. The engineer looked annoyed, his green eyes narrowing beneath his visor. Brown laughed sheepishly, “Sorry, Blue. I was thinking about something.”

The navigator had dragged them to the balcony, overlooking the clouds below them. Despite his poor experiences with locations far away from the ground, Brown couldn’t help but take in the sight.

“It’s beautiful though, isn’t it?” He absentmindedly asked to no one in particular.

Blue peered out the window, “Yeah, I’ve never been this high up before. It’s kinda scary, but it’s really pretty.” 

“Oh? This is your first mission then?”

The engineer nodded, “I did a lot of maintenance on returning ships. Imposters do a hell of a job in hijacking the systems. Someone needs to fix their mess. You have no idea about how many wires I’ve had to reconnect, those assholes just love to slice them.”

Brown felt a pang of guilt, he was a frequent offender of the sabotage. Shaking off the urge to apologize, the navigator turned to the crewmate, “You nervous?” 

“A bit. I think I can hold my own against an imposter.”

Brown burst out laughing, Blue looking at the other in indignation, “What’s so funny?”

“You’ve never actually encountered an imposter before, have you? I can tell you for a fact that they are much stronger and smarter than you think. I’ve been on more than enough missions to attest to that.”

“If they’re as strong and smart as you say they are, then how have you survived so many missions?”

The imposter froze for a moment, struggling to find a non-suspicious answer to the crewmate’s question. 

“Luck, probably. I’ve had too many close calls for it to be skill.”

Blue let out a hum, “I wanna ask you a question about Purple. You two are close, right?”

“I would say so. She and I have been doing missions together for a very long time. Ask away.”

“Why is she so against ejecting imposters? I can get why she’s anxious over the possibility of throwing out fellow crewmates, but to reject the idea altogether seems a bit much.”

Brown’s eyes widened, Blue was more perceptive than he looked. Purple had made no effort to hide her distain for the idea, but the engineer seemed to have figured out that it wasn’t simply because of the moral conundrums that arose from the practice. 

“Like I said, we’ve done many missions together. She and I have had more than a few close calls with both imposters and mob mentality,” Brown tried to figure out the best way to continue, “Purple was nearly ejected after an imposter dragged her into the airlock. She’s been incredibly against the idea ever since.”

Blue nodded, “I don’t blame her, that sounds like a traumatic experience. I can’t even imagine what that was like.”

“I feel guilty about it,” Brown said, looking at the sky wistfully, “I should have done more to stop it,” the imposter shrugged, “Nothing can be done now though. We just have keep moving forward.”

The two stood in silence, watching the clouds pass by. In the quiet, Brown could hear Blue’s heartbeat, as well as the heartbeat of someone else. Spinning around, the imposter caught sight of Black standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Black. Wanna join us? We’re looking at clouds,” the navigator said cheerfully, internally panicking on how fast and quiet the security guard was. 

Blue turned around, jumping at the sight of the gargantuan crewmate, “Jesus, Black! How do you keep sneaking up on us?”

The security guard remained silent, striding over to the pair and taking a seat on the ground, seemingly entranced by the blue sky. Brown had absolutely no idea how to read the man. 

Normally, crewmates were easy to figure out, their hopes, dreams, fears, and just how they functioned. But Black was different, the security guard giving no indication as to how he was feeling. His voice betrayed nothing and the man kept to himself. 

Brown took a seat next to the other man, deciding to observe him for the time being. Blue, no longer looking out at the sky, began to head for the door.

“You’re not staying, Blue?”

“It’s been a few hours, I’m gonna check in on Purple. I’ll see you guys around.”

Brown was too busy studying Black to wave bye to the engineer. The imposter was determined to figure the other man out.


	6. Blue

Blue exited the balcony, waving to Brown and Black as he left. The new information given to him by the navigator was on his mind. He understood just what had driven Purple away from the cafeteria so fast.

He passed by Cyan struggling with the vending machine. The mini crewmate sat on a nearby table as its owner attempted to type in the numbers to get a bag of chips. Frustrated, the headphone wearing woman kicked the vending machine, swearing loudly and grabbing her shin in pain when she did so.

Blue decided to take a quick detour to try to help his fellow crewmate out. As he approached Cyan, she attempted to wave at him, the act causing her to fall on her ass. 

Offering the navigator his hand and helping her to her feet, Blue glanced over at the vending machine. 

“You okay, Cyan? It looked like you were having some trouble over here. Can I help?”

“The damn vending machine took my money! It didn’t even give me the goddamn snack I wanted!”

A sly smile crossed the navigator’s face, “You’re good with machines, right? Can you get this thing open so I can get my snacks?”

Blue pulled a screwdriver and wrench from his tool-belt, “One step ahead of you. These things always do this, it’s a way for MIRA to make a little extra cash.”

Within a few minutes, the engineer had managed to open the vending machine, pushing open the glass door protecting the snacks. Cyan bolted over, pulling out packaged food by the armful. 

Jellybean squeaked, the mini crewmate hopping to its stubby feet and trotting towards Cyan, who tossed a bag of chips in its direction. Making a delighted noise, the small creature bent down, its small visor lifting up quickly and the bag of chips being vacuumed into the opening. As quickly as it had opened, the visor swung shut.

Blue could hear the sound of the bag popping followed by munching and the crinkling of plastic. He was about to say something to Cyan, concerned for the small bean’s wellbeing, but the creature seemed perfectly fine. Shrugging, the engineer swiped a few snacks and drinks before heading towards the garden. 

Entering the garden, the first thing Blue noticed was the amount of smoke and vapor filling the air followed by hysterical laugher. He caught sight of Lime and Purple chilling on the floor, helmets off. The chemist handed the biologist the blunt he had been holding, the woman in question taking a hit. Bongwater sat in the chemist's empty helmet, just vibing.

“But think about it, getting a baby carrier for Bongwater would be-” Lime stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the engineer in the doorway, “Yo, Blue! Wanna bool with us?”

Purple exhaled a large cloud of smoke, “God, I fucking needed that,” she turned towards Blue, waving him over, “Blue, you need to try this shit.”

The engineer reluctantly joined the pair, he wasn’t the biggest fan of pot, but he wasn’t against the idea of taking a hit or two. Taking off his helmet, Blue held out his hand for the blunt. 

Lime noticed the snacks to the side, making a grab for them, “Fuck yeah, snacks! I’m hungry as hell.”

The stoned chemist grabbed a bag of chips opening it and immediately stuffing a handful into his mouth. Purple passed the joint to Blue, a far off look in her eyes. 

“Y’all ever think about magnets?” She asked, “They just exist and like stick together and shit.”

“Like how does that even work? Opposites attract, my ass. That’s some magic shit.”

Blue took a hit, letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling the smoke. He just wanted to take his mind off the entire situation. He didn’t want to think about imposters or the vast expanse of space. 

Within minutes, the trio were just staring at the tree at the back of the room. 

“He’ll move. Any moment now,” Lime babbled, having insisted that because plants were alive, they must be able to walk and talk like humans.

“Maybe we should look away for a second. Maybe he’s just shy,” Blue absentmindedly said.

Purple shook her head, “But then we’ll miss it. We gotta keep looking.”

“What’s going on here?”

The three inebriated crewmates kept staring at the tree, ignoring the angry voice of the captain. Much to Blue’s and likely Lime’s and Purple’s chagrin, Red stood in front of the tree. 

“Dude, get out of the way, we’ll miss it!” Lime whined.

“Absolutely not. All three of you are getting written up for being under the influence on the job,” Red looked at Blue, “I expected this from Lime and Purple, but not you.”

“Literally eat my entire ass, you fuckin’ cherry suited cock.”

The captain let out a noise of indignation at Purple’s insult. He grabbed her by the collar of her suit. The biologist only snickered, “What are you gonna do? Hit me?”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Blue gasped, “You can’t hit a woman, that’s illegal,” the engineer paused for a second, “I think.”

Red let go of Purple, pushing her to the ground, “Get your shit together. Don’t you dare show up to launch if you plan on continuing this irresponsible behavior.”

The biologist yelped as she hit the floor. The captain had already stormed out by the time Blue had helped her back to her feet. Lime had gone back to smoking, seemingly zoned out from the entire situation 

Through his drug addled haze, Blue could make out Purple’s expression. The crewmate had a dull look in her eyes, staring after Red. She sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, “I’m tired to deal with this. I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

“But it’s 4 PM.”

Purple was already halfway out of the garden, “You heard me. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Probably, “and with that, the biologist was gone


	7. Purple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back? i was able to crank out a bunch of chapters and decided to post one. i hope you guys enjoy :)

Purple stood in the docking bay, struggling to keep her eyes open as Red droned on about the boarding procedure. Most of the other crewmates seemed equally as bored, Lime letting out what sounded like a yawn and Cyan listening to her music full blast with her headphones.

The imposter zoned out, thinking about how nice it would be to have her own room. She couldn’t wait to have a place where she could let her guard down a bit. Two weeks was a long time to maintain a disguise, the shared bunks preventing Purple from ever shifting back to her normal form.

Hopefully the ship would be warmer than the base they were currently at. The cold climate of MIRA HQ worsened her “narcolepsy”, the chilly temperature slowing her heartbeat and circulation. Purple flexed her fingers, the appendages feeling numb from both lack of movement and blood flow.

“Purple! Are you paying attention?”

The imposter jumped, Red’s loud voice snapping her from her thoughts. She glared at the captain and spoke without thinking.

“Not particularly. Why? Were you saying something worth listening to?”

The captain got into the biologist’s face, the latter taking a step back, “Do you think you’re being funny? Is this a joke to you?”

It took all of the imposter’s strength to not say yes to the question. Purple couldn’t wait to kill the captain. Pretending to be intimidated, the biologist put up her hands defensively.

“My bad. I wasn’t thinking when I spoke.”

Red looked at the imposter, anger in his eyes, “You’d do best to keep in line. You’re the most expendable member of the crew.”

Purple was about to throttle the captain for that comment when she glanced over at Brown, the other imposter vigorously shaking his head. Taking a deep breath, the biologist clenched her fists. Red would get what was coming to him, in due time.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting the ship to be this big!”

Purple watched Cyan walk around the cafeteria of the Skeld, entranced by the sheer size of the spacecraft. The other crewmates had gone off to explore the ship, White making a beeline for the medbay, Green heading to storage, Blue looking around electrical, and more.

Lime, Cyan, Pink, Brown, and Purple had remained in the cafeteria. Pink seemed to be berating Lime about bringing an excessive amount of pot onto the ship while Cyan ran around the tables. Bongwater and Jellybean sat on the central table, playing around by the big red button, covered by a glass box.

Brown looked anxious, Purple picking up on the other imposter’s discomfort. She strode up to him, nudging him with her hip, “Yo, is something up?”

The navigator flinched, he must have been more on edge than Purple had first thought. Brown grabbed the biologist’s arm, the woman in question letting out a surprised yelp. The other imposter dragged her to the front of the ship and into navigations.

“”It’s not safe to speak here,”” Brown whispered in their mother tongue.

Glancing around, Purple caught sight of a vent, pointing at it wordlessly to her fellow imposter. Brown nodded, grabbing the metal cover and pulling it off. The biologist hopped into the opening, backing up as the other imposter joined her.

“”This is…convenient,” Purple remarked, “”We can use this place to reconvene without suspicion.””

“”Convenience aside, I really need to tell you something.””

The serious tone in Brown’s voice caught the biologist off guard. She knew what that voice meant, “”Don’t tell me….””

“”There’s already been a casualty. Luckily, it’s none of us on the ship, however this raises several issues.””

“”He killed Orange, didn’t he.””

Brown nodded, “”That’s right. And I have some other news in regards to that. I saw Red hiding his body behind the satellite on the balcony at MIRA.””

Purple frowned, “”Red’s not an imposter though, but I can totally see him doing that,”” she paused before asking, “”You get pics?””

“”Unfortunately not. I wish I did. We would’ve had a great scapegoat too.””

“”Maybe we can recover some video footage. Let’s just keep it to ourselves for now, yeah?””

“”Won’t it be suspicious if we bring it up later? The others are going to start asking questions.””

Purple chuckled, a plan forming in her mind, “”This is our trump card, Azrael! I can see it now! Red, foolishly accusing one of us only to have the tables turned on him! You find the footage, and I’ll start spreading rumors. His accusations will hold no weight if we destroy his credibility.””

Brown stared at her for a second, mouth agape before grinning, “”D’ehdrrah, you crazy bitch. It’s been too long since we last pulled something like this. I’m in.””

The imposter pumped her fist in the air, nearly smacking it on the low ceiling of the vent. The navigator narrowed his eyes at Purple, who simply shrugged.

“”Now that we have a potential scapegoat, we need to figure out the whole third imposter issue. Do we rely on him fucking up and getting caught or do we do it ourselves?””

Purple watched as Brown took a minute to think, “”Well, it casts less suspicion on us to let him fuck up and just accuse him right off the bat. But you like you said earlier, he probably doesn’t know that we’re imposters as well. On the other hand, we ruin the chance of saying there’s only one imposter by killing him ourselves. If we don’t expose him, the chances of one of us getting accused gets much higher. However the second option eliminates the risk of anyone important being taken out. Either way, we’re taking a risk.””

“”Right. What do you think is the better choice?”””

“”I know you have a lot of issues with the airlock, but letting him get jettisoned out is the best way to go about this.””

Purple rubbed the backs of her hands absentmindedly, “”My mental wellbeing isn’t as important as our survival. I will do anything to get us through this mission, Azrael.””

Footsteps rang out from above, prompting the pair of imposters to peek through the vent in navigations to see what was going on. Of course it was Red, the nosy captain examining every button on the control panel.

“”We should wrap this up. I’m sure people will start to wonder if we don’t rejoin the group soon.””

“”Got it. Let’s arrange to meet sometime tomorrow morning, I’ll be in the cafe.””

“”Try not to accidentally suck some crewmate’s dick before then!””

Brown sputtered, “”That happened one time! It’s not my fault you showed up half an hour early!””

The imposter snorted at her partner’s gay panic, “”I’m kidding. But in all seriousness, try not to get attached to anyone. We can’t be pulling our punches this late in the game.””

The navigator sighed, “”You say that like you haven’t had your share of ship flings. Same to you.””

Purple gave him a small wave before making her way to shields via vent. Hopefully the ventilation would give them an easy way to sneak around without being spotted. The biologist peered through the slits in the metal barrier between her and the room.

Seeing no one nearby, the imposter crawled from the vent, quietly sliding the cover back on before looking around. She heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. Purple pretended to be examining the the shield primer.

She feigned surprise when Pink and Blue entered the room, “Oh hey! Do guys know where medbay is? I’m not used to the ship’s layout just yet.”

“Don’t you have a map on your tablet?” Pink inquired.

“Whoops! Must have slipped my mind,” the imposter faked a yawn, which quickly turned into an actual yawn, “All this exploring is tiring.”

“Do you want us to go with you? The imposter could strike at any time.”

Purple waved her hand, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. You guys have fun walking around and stuff.”

The imposter slipped past the pair of crewmates, letting out a sigh of relief when she made it past electrical. Purple had purposely taken the long way around, scouting out every possible place to strike an unsuspecting crewmate.

As Purple peered into security, she was surprised to see the dark suited security guard towering in the doorway, “Black! What are you doing in here?” She asked nervously.

Why was the crewmate so damn intimidating? Purple knew she could hold her own against Black, but the man was terrifying. Despite her excellent hearing and the security guard’s size, the man was incredibly quiet, often catching her and the other crewmates off guard

“Cameras,” Black cocked his head to the side as he looked down at the imposter, “Where are you heading?”

“Uhhhh, medbay?”

Black stepped out of security and stood behind the imposter, “D-do you wanna come with me?”

The dark suited crewmate nodded, following Purple as she began to make her way towards the medbay. As the imposter spun around, she caught a glimpse of lavender colored yarn poking out of Black’s pocket. Perhaps he wasn’t quite as intimidating as she had first thought.


	8. Black

Black sat in security, watching the cameras, crochet hook in hand as he worked on making a pair of mittens. The large clunky gloves attached to the space suit all crewmates were required to wear by MIRA made the process much more difficult. 

The security guard had brought a lot of yarn for the mission, knowing he would have a lot of downtime while watching the cameras. Crocheting was an activity he had taken up to get his mind off all the stressful events occurring around him.

The crewmate watched the video feed, seeing Purple and Brown entering navigation, the pair almost joined at the hip. Black felt a pang of jealousy. He wasn’t very good at interacting with people, however he hated being alone. All the crewmates seemed intimidated by his massive physical stature and quiet demeanor, causing them to usually avoid him.

Turning his attention back to the mittens he was making, Black found himself relaxing as his hands resumed the repetitive process of crocheting. The room was silent, aside from the rhythmic clicking of the hook against his gloves and the white noise from the audio.

The security guard caught a glimpse of violet on the camera outside of security and reactor. Frowning, he wondered if he had missed her passing the cameras the hallway to navigation and admin. Purple seemed to be looking around the ship, peeking her head into reactor.

The security guard stood up, tired of watching the screens for so long. He slipped the half made mitten and crochet hook into the pocket of his suit. Black walked to the doorway of security, coming face-to-face with the biologist peering into the doorway.

Purple jumped, likely frightened by Black’s sudden appearance, “Black! What are you doing in here?” 

The dark suited crewmate craned his neck to look down at the biologist, who was a good head or two shorter than himself. Purple was fairly stocky, broad shoulders and wide hips. Black was under the impression that the other crewmate was physically lacking due to spending hours at a time in labs. However, she gave off the aura of someone who could kick your ass if needed. 

“Cameras,” Black responded before asking, “Where are you heading?”

“Uhhhh, medbay? D-do you wanna come with me?”

Black nodded, following the biologist as she began to head to north towards the upper engine. Purple tilted her head towards the security guard, “We haven’t talked much, have we?”

“I suppose not.”

The biologist huffed, slowing down so she was walking beside Black, “You don’t talk much, do you?”

The security guard shrugged, “Don’t need to. I’m just here to do my job and get paid.”

“Understandable. Have you dealt with imposters before?”

“Only three.”

“Really? It’s a relief to hear we have more veterans on board. I thought it was just White, Red, Brown, and myself. You strapped?”

Black cocked his head to the side in confusion, Purple soon noticing his bafflement, “Do you have a firearm or weapon?”

The security guard reached for his belt, producing the bottom half of a baton. He clicked a button at the bottom of the weapon, a glowing beam of crackling electricity emerging from the tip. Purple looked momentarily nauseous at the sight of the stun baton.

Returning the weapon to his belt, Black glanced down at the biologist. Purple visibly relieved now that the baton was out of sight. She must have noticed the security guard’s curiosity. Chuckling nervously, she rubbed her neck.

“Ah, I’m not a fan of stun weapons. As helpful as they are when incapacitating someone, it’s a different story when it’s you being shocked.”

The pair rounded the corner leading to the cafeteria. The biologist lit up at the sight of the medbay doors, rushing towards the room. Black followed behind her as Purple slid into the medbay. 

Pink stood on the scanner as White took inventory of the medical supplies, examining a bottle of what looked to be hydrogen peroxide. Purple beelined towards the sample testing station, logging into the computer and checking a database. Blue sat on one of the beds, tinkering with what the security saw as a hunk of metal.

Black stood in the doorway awkwardly, not really knowing what to do now. A chill went down his spine as Green slid past him, the maintenance man absorbed in his tablet. He couldn’t explain why, but the other man creeped him out. 

A hand clamped down on the dark suited crewmate’s shoulder, the man in question hardly flinching. The owner of said hand made his way into Black’s vision. Brown stood before the security guard.

“Black! I was looking for you. I have to move some stuff in storage,” the navigator said, “But I have noodle arms so I need someone stronger to help me.”

“Okay.”

Brown clapped his hands together, a grin on his face beneath the thick glass visor. The shorter crewmate grabbed Black by the wrist, his grip surprisingly strong for someone with ‘noodle arms’, and dragged him towards storage, “Great! Right this way then.”


	9. Red

The captain watched his colorfully clad crew run about the Skeld, excited to explore their new home for the next month. Red felt like a single dad trying to wrangle all his kids. Despite every single crewmate being older than twenty-five, he still had to tell them not to fuck around in the trash chute like five year olds.

Lime had somehow smuggled eighteen potted plants, thirteen of which were marijuana, Pink yelling at him for doing so. Cyan was running around the tables like an actual fucking child while Brown and Purple watched from afar, chatting with each other.

Sometimes the captain felt like he was running a daycare, not a mission to space. Red wondered what he had done to deserve such an unprofessional crew. Sighing, he took a seat at the right most table, checking his tablet from any updates on the situation back at MIRA.

The imposter/imposters had already drawn first blood, Red coming across the mangled corpse of Orange haphazardly stuffed beneath the table in the headquarter’s cafeteria. 

When the captain had contacted MIRA, they had told him to keep the whole thing quiet. They had told him to hide the body and pretend like nothing had happened. Red had found it incredibly suspicious of MIRA, but he wasn’t one to disobey a direct order. 

He had been lucky that Green had left his cleaning materials nearby, dragging the corpse to the balcony and hiding it behind the satellite, then mopping up the bloody fallout. 

Red was sure that nobody had seen him, at least not any crewmates. He had thought he’d seen three pairs of golden eyes staring at him from the dark corners of the cafeteria. The captain prayed it was just a hallucination from stress or something. 

The captain just wanted the mission to go smoothly, hoping that if the imposter decided to strike, they would take out Lime, Purple, or even Cyan. The chemist was irresponsible and always high on the job, the biologist constantly questioned his authority and disregarded her place in the pecking order, and the navigator was replaceable. Brown was the better navigator anyway.

He watched Purple lightly hip-check said navigator and ask him a question. Brown, who seemed rather nervous, glanced at Red before grabbing the biologist by the arm and dragging her out of the cafeteria. That seemed suspicious.

Red waited a few minutes before following the direction they went in. He passed by weapons and peeked into O2, neither crewmate to be found. The captain entered navigation, looking around the oddly shaped room. No one in here either. 

The cherry suited man sighed, slightly irritated. He had hoped to find Brown in navigation and ask him about the course they were taking. Red figured he would probably find Purple in medbay, the lazy woman likely taking a nap on the job. He didn’t care if it was a medical condition, you weren’t committed to the job than you shouldn’t have taken it to begin with. 

Red started to walk down to shields, catching a glimpse of violet slip by Pink and Blue. The former of the pair seemed to have left the cafeteria in favor of exploring the facilities. 

“Checking out the ship, Red? What do you think so far?” Blue asked, the engineer looking excited about the new environment. 

“I’ve seen nicer. The Skeld just has the bare minimum.”

Blue pursed his lips, Red expecting him to talk back when Pink intervened, “The Skeld’s fine as far as transportation ships go, but you should see the spacecrafts that are like small cities. Truly brilliant engineering and architecture.”

The captain rolled his eyes as the Pink began to excitedly explain the beauty interior and exterior spacecraft architecture to a vaguely interested looking Blue. The pair moved past Red, heading in the direction of the cafeteria. 

He was frustrated at his crew’s lack of urgency. There was at least one imposter on the ship with them. They may not have known about Orange’s death, however the ease in which the crewmate’s traversed the ship was unnerving. 

Red wasn’t too worried about himself, the captain had dealt with many imposters over the course of his career. The veteran kept a gun on him at all times, ready to shoot any imposter dead if they made the mistake of showing themselves. It could even be used to put down unruly crewmates need be. 

The captain would feel very little guilt putting a bullet through Purple’s skull. The biologist was solely mistaken as to where she stood in the hierarchy of the mission. Imposter or not, he wanted Purple gone, figuring she would cause the other crewmates to go against him. 

Red patted his hip, feeling the firearm securely in his pocket. He wasn’t worried at all. He began to continue his rounds of the ship, thinking about each of the crewmates and speculating which of them could be the imposter. 

Lime was too stoned and stupid to ever kill, the captain doubted that it was an act. White hardly every spoke out or showed ill will to the rest of the crew, clearing her of suspicion in the captain’s eyes.

Cyan was clueless, however Red could definitely see that being an elaborate ruse to lower the guard of the crewmates around her. Black spoke very little and was intimidating, towering over everyone else by a sizable amount. He did his job and he did it well, but Red couldn’t help but be sus of the man.

Pink was a bit of an oddball, the man being a loyal and helpful member of the crew, yet still having a vibe the captain couldn’t place. He was able to move around the ship incredibly fast for someone who had boarded it for the first time only hours ago. 

Purple and Brown stuck together most of the time, seeming to be long time friends/work partners. The former was outspoken and disobedient, making Red both hate her as a person, but suspect her as a traitor. But on the other hand, Brown seemed completely clean, Red doubted he would vouch for an imposter unless he was one himself, so for the time being, the pair were off his list of immediate suspects.

Blue was somewhat suspicious to Red. Like Pink, he seemed to be quite good at navigating the ship quickly, however that could be due to him traveling with the architect. The engineer had never given the captain any reason to suspect him, but the lack of sketchiness was sketchy in itself.

Green was his prime suspect at the moment. Black and White, despite their silence, showed dedication and commitment to the mission. The maintenance man was an enigma, never easy to find and never looking up from his tablet. He gave off a foreboding vibe whenever Red was around him. The guy was just simply sus as hell.

Red made a mental note to keep a close eye on the suspected imposters. Looking at the clock, he was moderately surprised to see that it was already night time. The captain decided to turn in for the night, heading to his living quarters to get some sleep.


	10. Purple

“I saw Purple vent! She had to have killed Green!”

Purple looked at the yellow suited man pointing at her in tired distain. Idiots, all of the crewmates this mission had been absolute brainlets, accusing each other left and right, ejecting their own one after another.

“Prove it,” the imposter said, smirking, “I was nowhere near the body. There’s no way I could have done it.”

“Just because you weren’t near the body doesn’t mean you didn’t do it. If Yellow’s telling the truth, then it makes you even more sus,” Black said.

The biologist could feel herself start to panic, “It wasn’t me! Cyan can vouch, I was in medbay watching him scan!”

“But the vent in medbay is attached to the one in electrical,” said crewmate piped up.

“I was literally in cafeteria, you clown! I followed you to medbay!” 

Purple looked over at Brown with pleading eyes, praying that he would say or do something to get her out of this situation. The other imposter remained quiet, the woman feeling her heart sink as she realized there was no way out of it. 

Her hands shook as she opened up her tablet and placed her vote. As the votes were tallied up, Purple saw four icons pop up next to her name. The crew, including Brown, had all voted for her. 

A pair of arms reached for her, the imposter jumping on top of the table they all sat at to avoid being caught. Black had made a grab for Purple, receiving a powerful kick to the side of his head and falling to the floor with a thud. 

Violet material tore as tentacles holding knives sliced through the suit with ease. Purple had nothing left to lose, only hoping to help Brown finish the mission despite his betrayal. It was just part of the job.

Black made to get to his feet, the motion being stopped as the deranged imposter drove a boot into his sternum, the sickening crunch of his ribs cracking echoing through the cafeteria. Her eyes landed on Yellow, her accuser, the crewmate stepping back in fright. 

“I might not have killed Green, but I’m sure as hell taking you with me!”

Yellow turned tail and began to run in the opposite direction. Lunging for the crewmate, Purple swiped at the man with the knife-holding appendages that extended from her body, grinning wildly as the blades hit their mark. Three of them had been embedded deep in the man’s back. 

Electricity suddenly coursed through the imposter’s body, forcing her to the ground. Cyan stood above her, stun baton clutched in hand. Purple was dragged by the crewmate into the airlock, the bastard giving her a painful kick in the ribs as he shut the door. 

The imposter stumbled to her feet, slamming her fists on the reenforced glass window of the door separating her from the others. She wasn’t ready to accept her death yet. A click followed by a hissing noise echoed through the chamber, giving Purple only a few seconds to prepare herself before she was sucked into the vacuum of space. 

Purple was ejected from the ship, barely able to hang onto the outer satellites of the space craft. She couldn’t breathe, the tears in her suit exposed her to the harsh cold of the void. The imposter struggled to keep her grip on a pointed antenna, seeing a nearly identical one next to it and coming up with a plan. 

Slamming each of her hands onto the sharp tips, the imposter had to hold back from yowling as the metal penetrated her palms, pushing bone and muscle alike to the side. While the painful strategy worked long enough for Purple to wrap her tentacles around another, more steady satellite, the pressure pulling her away from the ship was too much to bear. 

Purple cried out as her hands gave out, the satellite tearing through tendons and bone alike. The imposter was barely clinging to the ship by her remaining appendages. She was overwhelmed by the pain, lack of air, and frigid temperatures all coming together to create an unbearable sensation. Vision fading, the biologist closed her eyes, waiting for death’s embrace.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Purple shot up in bed, gasping for air. She wildly looked around at her, sobbing in relief when it was just her room. The tears didn’t stop though. As much as she had told Brown that she was fine to go on the mission, the imposter wasn’t ready to relieve her past experiences, in waking or slumber. 

She stared at the disfigured flesh of her hands. Ugly scars covered her palms, the pale blue of her skin clearly visible without the presence of the scales that had once been there. Purple had been “lucky” that her insurance covered the surgery it took to repair the damage she had inflicted. 

The imposter wondered if she would have been happier had she not gotten the surgery. Never needing to kill again, settling down and maybe even having a family. Not that it mattered, as any “unnecessary” parts were removed from any imposters on the job. 

Despite knowing it would make her feel worse, Purple entered her bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Brown was right, she really did look like shit. Both in and out of her disguise. The imposter loathed the sickishly blue hue that had tinted her skin ever since the incident. The loose hoodie she wore obscured the myriad of scars that had accumulated over the years.

Brown wasn’t much better in that department, a thought that the biologist guiltily took comfort in. The poor guy probably had more than she did with how often he found himself in hot water. 

On the bright side, the sleek black tendrils that cascaded down her back looked healthier than normal. They were the only things that Purple even took pride in these days, and she couldn’t even keep them out on a day to day basis. 

The imposter’s chest felt tight, like she wanted to keep crying, but just couldn’t. Deciding to go for a little walk before heading back to bed, Purple pulled on some comfortable sweatpants she had swiped from Brown a while back. 

The biologist shifted to her more humanoid appearance, running her fingers through the mousy brown hair that was too long and too hard to manage. Purple looked down at her hands again, the ugly scarring remained. No matter how good at shape shifting the imposter was, covering up such a disfigurement wasn’t possible. 

Shoving her hands into the pockets of the hoodie with a frown, Purple hit the button to open the door to her sleeping quarters with her elbow and exited into the hallway.

Glancing at the clock in the hallway outside the crew’s sleeping quarters, the biologist was fairly unsurprised by it reading 1:19 AM. The imposter walked through the ship quietly, listening for anyone else around. It seemed like most of the crew was asleep, the only noise Purple could make out was the faint EDM coming from Cyan’s room.

A sweet aroma drifted through the air, catching the imposter’s attention. She followed the scent all the way to the cafeteria. Two trays of brownies sat on the center table. Purple caught a whiff of something herbal, deducing that these belonged to Lime. 

If the heavy smell of pot wasn’t enough to deduce the baker behind the brownies, then the small light green creature munching on one of said brownies did. Purple couldn’t help but smile at Bongwater, the mini crewmate making happy squeaks as it devoured edible after edible. 

Despite being a biologist, Purple had no fucking idea how the bean creatures worked. They just existed and made people happy by doing so. Bongwater, having noticed the imposter, hopped to its feet and pushed one of the trays towards Purple. 

“Ah, thanks Bongwater. But I’m not really hungry at the moment.”

Bongwater looked rejected, plopping onto its butt and eating another brownie. Purple, now feeling bad for upsetting the bean creature, slid a hand out of the pockets in her hoodie and grabbed one of the baked treats. She examined it for a second.

“I hope Lime doesn’t get mad at me for eating his stuff.”

“Nah Purp, you’re all good. I made more than enough for the crew 10 times over.”

The imposter flinched at the sound of the chemist’s voice. Rounding the corner came the man himself, holding yet another tray of brownies. Lime wore a pink checkered apron covered in flour over his sleep clothes.

“Can’t sleep either?” The stoner asked.

Purple nodded, taking a bite from the brownie. To her surprise, she tasted no weed in the chocolatey treat.

“I should probably warn you, those don’t have any pot in them. I made them for Bongwater, but feel free to take a few,” Lime patted the green creature’s head, the latter wiggling around happily.

“That… makes sense,” Purple took another bite, she didn’t usually eat sweets, relying on meat and bone marrow for protein, but these brownies hit the spot.

Lime sat down across from the imposter, picking up the mini crewmate and placing it on his head before grabbing one of the pot brownies. 

“So why are you up at 1 AM making brownies?”

“It’s kinda cathartic, ya know? Baking and smoking help me get my mind off all the bad shit goin’ on.”

“Understandable. I know the feeling.”

Lime’s eyes seemed to wander, fixating on the imposter’s scarred hands. Feeling self conscious and a little embarrassed, Purple sighed and waited for the question. But it never came.

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

“About what? Your hands?” Lime shrugged, “Sure I’m curious, but considering you’re here up this early in the morning, I figured you were dealing with some shit.”

Purple was taken aback at the crewmate’s kindness. Previous crewmates on earlier missions had never been as tactful as Lime was in the matter. The stoner seemed to notice the imposter’s surprise, “Dude, I’m the last person to delve into somebody’s personal issues. Lord knows I have a lot of my own.”

The pair sat in silence, neither speaking as Bongwater climbed back onto the table and began to eat more of the brownies. It was strangely comforting. For the first time in a long time, Purple wasn’t thinking about the mission. Just sitting in the presence of the other crewmate was enough to put her at ease.

She almost missed the sound of footsteps approaching As Purple looked up, she saw tan skinned man standing in the entrance to the cafeteria.

“Yo Blue!”


	11. Blue

Blue couldn’t sleep, around a week had passed since the crew had boarded the ship and nothing bad had happened yet. But the engineer just had a feeling that something would go wrong soon. His dreams showed every possible scenario in which he or the other crewmates died gruesomely at the hands of the unseen imposter. 

Rolling to his side, he checked the alarm clock that sat on his bedside table. Bright red numbers read 2:39. Groaning, Blue decided to forego going back to sleep, hopping out of his bed and instead rummaging through the bins beneath his bunk.

“It’s gotta be here somewhere,” The engineer mumbled to himself, pushing aside clothes and trinkets alike. 

Blue grinned when he finally found what he was looking for. He had brought one of his old gaming consoles with him on the mission. Seeing as they would be on the Skeld for another two or three weeks, the engineer was hoping to play it a bit during his free time. Red made sure the crew was always doing something, so this was the first time he was actually able to break it out.

The engineer planned on going to communications and connecting the console there. He grabbed a few controllers, figuring he might run into some fellow crewmates on the way down. Blue knew for a fact that Lime would probably chilling in the cafeteria. He didn’t want to be alone and wallow in his dark thoughts. 

Blue stepped out of his room, the strong smell of chocolate and pot wafting through the hallways of the living quarters. The cafeteria was right by the rooms, so the origin of the scent was likely from there. It also confirmed that Lime was up.

Wandering into the brightly lit cafeteria, Blue caught sight of a shaggy haired blond man wearing a pink apron and an exhausted looking brunette in a baggy sweatshirt sitting at the central table. Bongwater sat on said table, an empty tray of brownies beside the creature. 

Lime looked up, “Yo Blue! Couldn’t sleep either?” The stoner patted a the bench beside him, “Come chill with us!”

Purple lifted her head up, giving the engineer a lazy wave, “Hey. Welcome to the insomnia gang.”

Blues eyes gravitated towards the biologist’s hand, the scarred flesh almost blending into the woman’s pale hands. He was about to ask about it when he saw Lime shanking his head at him. Deciding against questioning Purple, he pulled out three of the controllers from his pocket.

“I was gonna go to communications and set up my gaming console. Do you guys wanna join?”

Purple shrugged, “I’m down. It’s not like I have plans to do anything else at-” she looked at the clock on the cafeteria wall, “2:45 AM.”

“Sounds fun. What games you got?” Lime inquired.

“Party games, fighting games, pretty much the works. I didn’t see the point of leaving all my stuff at home. We won’t be back for a long time anyway.”

The trio began to make their way to communications, talking excitedly about what game to play first. Even Purple, who admitted that she didn’t play a lot of video games seemed to be eager to play. 

————————————————————————————————————————————

“Shit! I fucking suck at this game!” 

Blue smirked as his character knocked Purple’s off the side of the map. They had decided on a party/fighting game. Lime was doing surprising well for being totally stoned, getting several kills on the other two players. The biologist huffed, crossing her arms like a petulant child, as she watched the the remaining players duke it out. 

Lime’s and Blue’s characters exchanged blows for a bit until the former finally knocked the latter’s character off the map. The stoner lazily grinned, “I won, cool.”

The engineer gritted his teeth, about to make an excuse for losing when he remembered the words once said by a very wise man: “No johnning”. Sucking up his pride and keeping in mind it was just a game Blue said, “Good game, Lime. I didn’t take you for someone who played video games.”

“I don’t do it a lot. I used to play with my cousins,” Lime laughed, patting Bongwater’s head, “My aunt would get so mad at me for not letting them win. Also for smoking at family events, but mostly the gaming thing.”

“Big family?” Blue asked.

“Yep. I have like, a ton of cousins. And a few nieces and nephews. And siblings.” The stoner seemed to get more dejected as he went on. 

“I don’t really have a family,” Purple chimed in, now laying on the floor of communications, “My parents only stepped into my life to steer me towards my career.”

Blue looked at the pair. He hadn’t ever had any familial issues, having a healthy relationship with his parents and siblings. As the oldest, the worst thing he had to deal with was expectations his parents put on him, but that was natural for anyone in his position.

“So you never wanted to be a biologist?” The engineer asked.

“No, I like studying living creatures. It’s an interesting field and I genuinely enjoy the work,” she sighed, “I just didn’t want to be forced into space to do it. All I wanted was a cozy life as a researcher, but my parents said that doing the work in space would pay better and give me more… what was the word? Notoriety, I think.”

Lime folded his hands, looking more serious, “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re here though.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You can do pretty much anything up here with minimal consequences. The closest thing to an authority figure is Red, but I don’t think anyone listens to him. Besides,” the chemist’s voice dropped, “I’d honestly rather deal with murderous aliens than live life at home anyway.”

Purple rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers, the outline of the tendons in her hand visible through the scarred flesh, “Lets… stop with the family talk, yeah? I’m sure Blue probably isn’t in the mood to share his “tragic backstory” as to why he’s in space or something,” the biologist stretched out her arms, faint cracking noises audible in the now awkward silence that filled the room, “I’m getting pretty tired, so I’m gonna turn in for night.”

Blue decided against pointing out that it was just past 4 AM. He looked over at Lime, who just sat in his chair quietly, petting the mini crewmate in his lap. The joyful stupor the chemist was normally in was completely gone, leaving a depressed man in its wake. 

“I think I’m gonna head to bed too,” Blue jumped as Lime spoke up, the latter’s voice tired, “Thanks for inviting us to play games, dude. Let’s do that again sometime.”

“No problem man. Let me know if you ever wanna play again. Also,” the engineer put a hand on Lime’s shoulder, “If you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m more than happy to listen.”

The stoner smiled, his mood completely switching, “Thanks for the offer dude, but I already have a therapist. I call her ganja. See you around!”

With that, Lime stood up, placing Bongwater on his head, and leaving Blue by himself. The engineer didn’t know how to feel after all of that. Did every crewmate have familial issues? He sighed, unplugging his console and heading back to his room. 

Blue was almost back at his quarters when he saw something odd. At least he thought he saw it. Four gleaming emerald eyes glinted in the dim light of the hall. The owner of the eyes was bathed in shadows, unseen to the engineer. Blue hurried into his room, the door closing quickly behind him.

“What the hell was that?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm planning on taking another hiatus after the next chapter. i got a lot going on and very few ideas in my head. it'll probably be a bit longer than last time, for expect 3-5 days without uploads. i'll be checking comments periodically though, so feel free to let me know what you think about the story so far :)


	12. Purple

“How many more tasks do we have left?” Cyan whined from next to Purple as she examined some samples in medbay, trying to find the anomaly.

“This is my last task for the day, I’m more than happy to go with you and Lime.”

Lime sat on one of the beds, chilling out as the biologist worked, “Red wanted me to fuel the engine,” he pointed to a gas canister lying dangerously close to the door. Purple winced, “Why’d you bring the gas can all the way to medbay? Storage is pretty close to lower engine.”

“I dunno man. I saw you and Cyan passing by and figured it would be better to travel in a group. Also I hate doing gas.”

Baffled by the stoner’s logic, the biologist finished up her task and looked at him. Lime was a pretty nice guy and a great smoking buddy, but by tagging along with her and Cyan, the chances of her getting a clean kill on the navigator were gone.

“Alright. Lower engine then?”

Lime nodded, rolling off the bed and stumbling to his feet. Cyan sat on the floor, watching Jellybean and Bongwater as they ran around on the scanner. Purple nudged the navigator with her foot.

“Let’s go, Cyan. We only have a few tasks left.”

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, the navigator stood up, scooping up her mini crewmate. Bongwater ran over to Lime and waited patiently by his feet. Purple strode out of medbay, the other two crewmates following behind.

The walk to lower engine was fairly uneventful. The imposter briefly peaked into reactor, seeing Red booting up the reactor and Pink unlocking the manifolds. Purple had a sneaking suspicion that shit was going to hit the fan soon, so keeping track of the other crewmates would be helpful info to have.

Purple watched as Lime finished up fueling the engines. Cyan was taking a weirdly long time to divert the power. She was about to say something when the lights suddenly shut off. The imposter’s eyes quickly got used to the darkness, able to make out a panicked Cyan and a confused Lime.

“Fuck! They sabotaged lights! We gotta move!”

Lime took off for electrical, clearly not a fan of the darkness. Purple grabbed Cyan by the wrist and followed the chemist. She skidded to a stop in front of electrical, catching a glimpse of light green slip through the doors before they slammed shut. 

“Purple? What’s going on?”

Panic overtook the imposter. She hadn’t done that, and knowing Brown, he hadn’t either. Purple began to slam her fists into the metal door, trying with all her might to force it open. 

“Let me in!” She screamed, hissing at the pain of the bones of her hands cracking as she violently slammed them into the metal. Purple was hitting the door with enough force to visibly dent it. A small opening had been made by the barrage of blows.

Jamming her fingers in the dented gap she had made, the imposter started to push them open, hearing a wet “thud” when she had gotten the door open a fraction. This wasn’t good, the third imposter had been smart to isolate one of the crewmates and trap them in electrical.

Purple ignored the footsteps echoing through the hallway, focusing on forcing the door open. She saw a limp light green clad leg with blood pooling beneath. The faint sound of a vent opening rang out in the room. 

Brown and Black had booked it over to electrical. Brown began to ask a question, interrupted by the other imposter.

“Help me get these goddamn doors open!”

It seemed her partner understood the gravity of the situation, reaching for one of the doors and pushing it open. Black took up the other door, and with their combined strength, an opening was made in the door. Purple jumped through it, looking around wildly until she found Lime.

His helmet was cracked, red visible through the break. A deep looking gash marred his chest, blood seeping from the wound and onto the floor. Purple rushed up to Lime’s limp body, ripping the helmet from his head. Crimson stained the entire right side of the crewmate’s face. 

The biologist let out a sigh of relief when she heard a heartbeat. It was faint, but Lime was still alive. 

“Lime’s alive! But he’s not looking too great. Somebody get White!”

Purple was briefly blinded by the lights coming back on, Black had fixed the sabotage. Brown and Cyan stood behind her, both silent. The biologist was about to yell at them for not doing anything, but froze when she heard Cyan scream.

“T-this wasn’t supposed to happen…” Brown whispered, the other imposter sounding genuinely shocked.

In the back of electrical lay a bisected body. Blood completely drenched the floor, viscera strewn about. Purple couldn’t help but grimace, only an amateur would be so brutal and messy with their kills. Upon a more detailed look, Purple’s heart stopped, in the literal sense. 

Out of all the times to lose consciousness, this had to be the worst. The sudden lack of cardiac activity caused the imposter to collapse onto the floor. Her vision faded fast and the last thing she caught sight of, before losing consciousness, were Blue’s severed legs.


	13. Update on Hiatus

Thank you guys so much for all the support surrounding my story. It means a lot to me to get so much positive feedback. 

Unfortunately, I had to go the the emergency room for some medical complications. I just wanted to give everybody an update on what was going on. I should be able to post one or two chapters over the weekend, but my upload schedule might get a bit dicey what with school and the medical bullshit going on.

Again, all the kind comments mean a lot to me. I'm gonna do my best to keep delivering quality chapters to you guys :) Let me know if there are any characters you'd like to see more of or learn about.


	14. Brown

Brown cursed the third imposter for shutting off the lights in the middle of his task. The lack of lighting wasn’t an issue for him personally, his eyes easily able to adapt to the dark, however he could hear Black bumping into stuff behind him. 

The pair had gone to communications to finish up their final tasks, Black needing to finish uploading data, while Brown checked the security on the comms. And by checking security, he meant finding the weak points in the system for a later sabotage. 

Turning around, the imposter watched as the crewmate struggled to locate him. The security guard continued to fumble until Brown called out to him.

“Black. Stay where you are so I can find you.”

It was a lie, as Brown knew exactly where the other man was in the room. He wrapped his arm around the security guard’s, tugging him into the hallway. The imposter scanned the hallway, he couldn’t see any of the crewmates nearby, but he did hear footsteps followed by the slamming of a door by electrical.

“What was that?” Black asked, having also heard the door shut.

Brown was about to answer the other man when the banging started. The imposter knew exactly what that was. Purple had, in the past, attempted to open the heavy metal doors of spaceships by slamming her fists into them until they were dented enough to open.

It wasn’t something she did frequently though. It was usually a last resort if there was only a few crewmates left and someone was catching on to them. But no one (on the ship) had died yet, confusing Brown. 

“We need to check that out.”

Brown was taken aback by the security guard’s bluntness. He really didn’t want Black to see anything that would incriminate Purple or himself. The navigator was about to protest until he heard his partner yelling, “Let me in!”

Something was definitely wrong if the other imposter sounded that desperate. Black started to run towards the sound, letting go of Brown’s arm.  
“Wait up! It’s not safe, Black!”

Brown skidded to a halt once he saw the other imposter outside electrical. The doors had been dented to hell and back, Purple having jammed her hands into an opening she must have made. She glanced back at him and Black, the former about to ask a question when she snapped at the pair, 

“Help me open these goddamn doors!”

Knowing better than to argue with Purple in such an aggressive state, Brown grabbed one of the doors and began to pull it away from the opening. Black did the same, their combined efforts making opening the door just enough for someone to slip through. And slip through someone did, as Purple bolted into electrical. 

The doors slid open automatically soon after, allowing the rest of the crewmates, which included Cyan, who Brown had not seen earlier, to enter the room. 

Purple was kneeling over the limp body of Lime, clearly panicking as she tore his helmet off and looked for signs of life. That explained why the imposter had been so desperate to get into electrical, she and the chemist had grown rather close over the past weeks. Brown hoped she wasn’t getting too attached, as regardless of him surviving, Lime would need to die eventually. 

Brown decided to check the back of electrical, looking for any signs of the third imposter. He froze when he saw the carnage that covered the back half of the room. 

Blue’s body had been messily sliced in half, his blood covering the floor. His top half was by the vent, a smear of crimson on said metal sheet. The engineer’s legs were haphazardly thrown to the opposite wall splayed out in an awkward position. 

Brown felt a pang of guilt. No one should have to die like that. The imposter believed it was his job to bring a swift and clean death to all his victims. Not only was it a cruel fate, but the victim was an integral part of their plan. Blue shouldn’t have died, but nothing could be done to bring him back. He barely heard Purple’s declaration of Lime’s survival.

Cyan let out a scream, falling to her knees in fear. Black had just turned on the lights, revealing the corpse to the crewmates in the room for the first time. Purple looked up from Lime’s body, gasping in genuine surprise when she caught sight of Blue’s mangled body.

“T-this wasn’t supposed to happen,” Brown whispered beneath his breath, his distress and fear not an act for once.

A soft “thud” echoed behind him, the imposter turning around to see his partner collapsed onto the crimson coated floor. Of all the times for Purple to fall asleep, this was probably the worst. 

Brown took a deep breath, composing himself before speaking, “Black, bring Lime to medbay and find White. Get him immediate treatment. Cyan, report the body, after that I want you to head to the cafeteria and tell everybody what happened. I can get Purple to the cafe, but I need to take some photos of the scene.”

“You seem calm for someone who’s just seen a dead body!” Cyan cried out hysterically, “Did you do it?”

Black placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, typing on his tablet as he did so, “I can report the body and get Lime to medbay.”

The tall security guard picked the injured crewmate up with ease, turning to leave. Black stopped before exiting, Jellybean and Bongwater hanging onto his leg, “Brown, stay safe.”

With that, he and Cyan were gone. The imposter smiled a little despite the grave situation. Black’s concern made him feel warm inside, such genuine care absent during most other missions. Brown shook his head, he couldn’t get attached to a potential victim or scapegoat. He frowned when he looked at Purple, he was concerned about her relationship with Lime, the almost feral behavior earlier was worrying.

Brown squatted by his partner’s body, the woman out like a light. He rolled Purple onto her back before slamming his fist into her chest. The imposter had to jump back to avoid the haymaker that was thrown where he was seconds earlier. The biologist was up, and clearly on edge.

“What the fuck-“ Purple stopped when she saw it was just Brown. She peered around to see if anyone else was present, clenching her fists when she caught sight of the bisected corpse, “”Shit. What do we do now?””

“”I… don’t know. The third imposter is certainly smarter than we thought. Unless we get him for this kill, we may need to take action.””

Brown offered his partner a hand, helping her to her feet. Purple grimaced at the sheer amount of blood that had gotten on her suit, “”How much do you want to bet that Red accuses me?””

“”We need to talk about Lime.””

“”Don’t tell me he fucking died too. I’ll cave that slimy cunt’s skull in with wrench,”” Purple snarled, her eyes briefly reverting to their natural state, glowing red iris’s piercing through the darkness of her dark sclera’s.

“”Why do you care so much about him? You know the dangers of sparing crewmates. Additionally, there’s a very good chance that the shit you pulled with the door earlier is going to cast suspicion upon you””

The other imposter’s aggressive demeanor melted away, “”I don’t want him to die yet,”” she admitted, “”I know I harp on you all the time for getting attached to crewmates, but you have to understand! Can’t we just keep him until we absolutely can’t anymore?””

Brown sighed, he understood Purple’s dilemma all too well, but he couldn’t let the mission get compromised, “”You know we can’t do that. The sooner he’s gone, the less people we have to kill and the less distractions you have to deal with.”” 

“”Azrael, I’m begging you! We only need to get rid of five more crewmates, and I’m pretty sure we can include the other imposter in those five. If we leave two or less alive, then we win.””

“”Let’s discuss this later, the rest of the crew will be expecting us in the cafe.””

Purple gave Blue’s body a final look, an expression of guilt crossing the imposter’s face before she exited electrical. Brown put his tablet away, the gory photos of the scene already secured. They just needed to get through this meeting without getting accused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all the support in this time of chaos for me. It's been such a confidence booster for me. Let me know in the comments if there are any characters you'd like to see more of.


	15. Red

“What do you mean Blue’s dead!?” Pink cried, the architect freaking out over the sudden news.

Black had reported the engineer’s body, found bisected in the back of electrical. Red, having been in reactor with Pink during the blackout, was caught off guard by the crewmate’s death. 

The imposter had picked off one of the quintessential members of the crew, putting them in a precarious position. The captain didn’t want to believe it, but after finding Orange’s mangled body at MIRA HQ, he knew better than to doubt it.

He had been taken off guard when Lime had been rushed into medbay. The chemist seemed to have been attacked by the imposter after walking in on them in the act. At least that cleared him of suspicion as Red had initially thought. 

Most of the crew had gathered at the table, the missing parties being White, who was tending to Lime’s injuries, Lime himself, Brown, and Purple. The absence of the latter two was odd to the captain. According to Black and a hysterical Cyan, Purple had passed out and Brown was taking photos of the scene to present at the meeting.

As much as Red trusted Brown, the pair of them at the crime scene was suspicious. They could plant evidence to accuse a crewmate, after all, imposters usually worked in pairs. Purple fainting would be a convenient excuse for her. 

As if on cue, the biologist strode into the cafeteria, the front of her suit covered in blood. Yet another reason to suspect Purple. Brown followed closely behind her, swiping his gloved finger across his tablet. 

“Sorry for being late. I thought it would be important to document the scene,” the navigator said, his voice devoid of emotion. 

“Why are you covered in blood?!” Pink continued to panic, only stopping when Red tugged his arm.

“Sit down. We need to discuss this. Although, Pink raises a good question. Why are you covered in blood?”

Purple let out an exasperated sigh, sliding into the empty seat next to Black, “Poorly timed nap. I fell into a pool of Lime’s blood. Brown, Black, and Cyan can vouch.”

Red glared at the three people she had mentioned, “Is this true?”

“She wasn’t bloody before the door opened. We can actually completely clear her and several others here,” Brown interjected, sounding almost bored. 

“Please explain to me and the rest of the crew how exactly you can do that.”

Brown slid his tablet onto the table, the gory image of Blue’s body displayed on the screen. Pink made a retching noise while Green stayed silent, Cyan covered her eyes and Black crossed his arms. Red watched as both Purple and Brown glanced at each other, sharing what looked like a knowing glance.

“Black and I were both in communications doing our tasks before the lights went out. I think it’s reasonable to assume that the murder occurred during that time.”

“And I was with Cyan and Lime in lower engine when the blackout happened. I can also vouch for Pink and Red, because I saw them in reactor.”

Pink nodded, a look of disgust still on his face, “That’s right. Red and I stayed there during the outage until the lights came back on and the body was reported.”

“So that clears Brown, Black, Purple, Cyan, Lime, Pink, and myself. That just leaves… White and Gre-”

“How do you know it wasn’t Lime who killed Blue?”

Everyone looked at Green, who had made the comment. Red was immediately suspicious of him. Lime was attacked by the imposter, so there was no way he could have killed Blue.

“That’s a rather suspicious thing to say. You’re blaming the victim?” Brown said while tapping his fingers on the table.

“First off,” the green suited crewmate leaned forward, “I was in medbay with White, so she can vouch for me. Second, it’s possible that Lime is the imposter and Blue fought back. So you can’t say that I’m sus-”

“Medbay has a vent to electrical,” Purple interrupted, “And you could have easily vented into electrical during the blackout and killed Blue. When Lime walked in, you panicked and attacked him, but failed to actually kill him.”

Green cackled, “Are you serious? White was there the entire time! She would have seen me vent.”

“But the lights were off,” Red pointed out, the accused crewmate glaring at him.

“So? The vents are loud, she would have heard.”

The captain caught sight of the timer on his tablet slowly decreasing, 30 seconds left before voting would be over.

“We need to vote now. I’m voting for Green and I suggest everyone else does too.”

“I don’t think we have enough evidence to vote Green. We haven’t even heard what White has to say. I’m skipping vote,” Pink asserted.

The votes began to tally up. There were four votes for Green, the individuals responsible being Purple, Brown, Black, and himself. Cyan and Pick had opted to skip vote, and with Lime and White not present, their votes automatically skipped. Red’s eye twitched as he noticed Green had voted for him.

The captain heard Purple swearing beneath her breath, the biologist clearly frustrated with the outcome. Brown had a worried expression on his face, contrasting the stoic visage Black maintained. 

“Why would you fucking skip vote?!” Purple yelled, slamming her hand into the table with a sickening crunch. Her wrist gave out, Brown managing to grab the biologist by the air tank to prevent her from face planting onto the table.

“I don’t want to be responsible for the death of someone who could very well be innocent,” Pink stated, almost matter of factly.

Red couldn’t really argue with the architect’s logic, but he thought it was fucking stupid logic. Seeing as Purple, Brown, and Black all voted for the prime suspect, the captain would trust them for the time being.

“I’m going to my room,” Cyan stated, standing up and leaving the cafeteria. Pink followed her to the living quarters. Green gave the remaining crewmates a smug grin before also leaving. 

Purple rubbed her wrists, wincing in pain, “Ah fuck. That’s busted.”

“You shouldn’t have forced the door open,” Brown chastised the biologist, who frowned. 

“I got it open, didn’t I? It’s probably just a nasty bruise. I’ll just grab some bandages from medbay and it’ll be as good as new.”

Red looked at the pair, confused, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We smashed the door to electrical, “ Black deadpanned.

“You fucking what?!” Red turned towards the biologist, “That’s property damage!”

“Get off my dick, it was for a good cause,” Purple snarled, “Besides, we have bigger issues to deal with right now.”

Red was about to berate the biologist for her comment but stopped when she put a finger up to her visor, “Quiet. He might be lurking nearby,” she glanced at Brown, “Scout out comms. If the area’s clear, shoot me a message.”

The navigator gave his friend a mock salute, “Can do. Keep an eye out for him here.”

“I’ll go with you. It’s safer to travel in pairs,” Black said quietly.

The captain watched as the navigator and security guard headed towards communications. Purple sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, “Not the most ideal situation,” she turned towards Red, “Can we call a truce for the time being? I hate you and you clearly don’t fucking like me, but working together is our best bet to catch Green.”

“I suppose I can cooperate with you. But keep in mind, this is my ship, so you listen to me.”

Purple pursed her lips, flinching when her tablet vibrated. The biologist checked the device, “It looks like we’re clear. Come on.”


	16. Purple

Purple was deep in thought as she walked down the hallway, ignoring Red’s complaints about her moving too fast. Out of every possible outcome for the meeting, this had to be one of the worst. She was seconds away from beating Green to death with her own hands, regardless of the damage they had sustained in her panic to force open the door to electrical.

A dull throbbing sensation permeated the area, more of an inconvenience than an immediate issue. It would heal soon enough, so Purple pushed it from her mind from the time being. There were more pressing matters she needed to focus on.

The imposter turned the corner into shields, her ears picking up a fairly one sided conversation between Brown and Black. The former stopped speaking, likely having heard Red and Purple approaching.

Purple peeked into comms, catching sight of the pair, the other imposter lounging in an office chair while the security guard stood in the corner quietly. Deeming the room safe, she entered, Red following behind her. The biologist pressed a button on the wall, causing the doors to slide shut behind her. 

The captain looked apprehensive at suddenly being locked into the room with the two imposters. The thought to kill both Red and Black crossed her mind, however Purple knew better than to go for a kill when at least three people had seen the four together. 

“So before anything, I want be sure of something,” Purple began, “We all believe Green is the imposter, correct?”

The three men nodded in unison, Brown speaking up, “The only other person it could be is White, but I doubt that she is considering that Lime is still alive. There’s a chance she might be the other imposter though, so it’s probably smart if we kick her from medbay.”

Purple grinned, mentally thanking the other imposter for picking up on her plan, “My thoughts exactly. White and Green are our prime suspects, however I think Green was definitely responsible for Blue’s death.” 

“What are you proposing?” Black asked, moving from his position in the corner of comms and towards the other three.

The imposter clapped her hands together, immediately regretting the action as the pain in her wrists intensified. Hissing at the sensation, Purple continued, “Ah… Lime is probably going to be targeted. He must have seen the imposter, so there’s a good chance that Green will come back to double-tap.”

The security guard and captain looked confused at the term, “Finish him off, I mean. Regardless, I think we can count on him trying to sneak into medbay. I figured we could catch him in the act if we took watch in pairs of two. One of us hides under one of the beds and the other acts as a kind of bait along with Lime. Green tried to kill two of us at once before, so he’ll probably try again.”

Red seemed skeptical of the plan, “So? He’s still an imposter. We don’t have a lot of ways to overpower him.”

“You have a gun, don’t you? And Black has a stun baton.”

The captain looked shocked at the question, “How did you-”

“I guessed,” Purple lied, she could smell the gunpowder, clear as day, “But I’m right, yeah?”

The imposter took his silence as an admission of his firearm possession. She pulled a gun from the pocket of her suit. Black reached for the baton on his hip as Red made a grab for his, “Chill out, it’s just tranquilizer gun,” Purple pulled out a small clear box containing the darts for said gun.

“And Brown can probably smack the bastard pretty hard with a chair or something. I think we might be able to pull this off, as early as tonight. Are you guys in?”

“I don’t think I need to even answer that,” Brown commented with a grin.

“If Brown is going to help, than I will too,” Black added.

Everyone looked at Red, who still seemed conflicted about the idea, “I don’t trust this plan. I don’t want to risk my life for something that could very well result in my death,”

“Then don’t. Be backup. We only need two people actually in medbay. I’m fine with being bait if it means we can get rid of the bastard who killed Blue.”

This wasn’t a total lie, she did want Green to be gone because he had killed the only person on the ship who knew how to keep it running, and seriously injured the only crewmate that had shown her kindness and sympathy. But regardless, the slimy bastard needed to be disposed of and soon.

“I’ll send you a message on the tablet when he’s nearby and you can bust in with whoever else is outside medbay and help us from there. Is that something you’re willing to do?”

“Fine. But if you fuck this up and anyone dies, I’m launching you out of the airlock.”  
“God, I wish you were the other imposter,” Purple mumbled beneath her breath. Red seemed to have missed it or pretended not to hear it, as he turned around and left.

“Brown, I think you should hide under the bed. You’ll be able to hear Green if he uses the vents. Black, I’ll message you and Red once he’s nearby. Be ready at any minute to run to medbay.”

Purple hoped that Green would fuck up. She prayed that the plan would succeed and that everything would work out in the end. The imposter began the trek to medbay, her partner tagging along behind her. Black had split off, going back the way they had came originally.

“”Good plan, D’ehdrrah. I think we may have a chance of getting rid of the third imposter fairly soon now.””

“”We need to be careful about him. After Blue, I feel we may have underestimated him.””

“”What will you do if it’s too late? What if he’s already killed Lime?”” Brown asked.

“”Doesn’t matter. Focus on the plan and we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.””

The imposters both perked up when they heard Red’s and White’s voices echoing down the hall. It seemed as if the captain was more on board with the plan then she had initially thought him to be.

As the pair caught sight of the door to medbay, they watched as the medic stormed off to her living quarters. Purple looked at Red who glared at her in return, “Don’t fuck this up. Remember what I said earlier.” And with that, he was gone as well.

Purple and Brown entered medbay, finally seeing the full extent to which Lime had been injured. The poor chemist had been stripped from his spacesuit, his chest and shoulder wrapped tightly with white bandages. The biologist could see the faint outline of blood staining the tightest layers of the gauze. 

The crewmate’s face had also been bandaged, his eyes completely obscured by the material. Lime seemed to be breathing just fine, and his vitals weren’t too bad either. That didn’t take away from the vulnerable position chemist was in, unable to fight back against, let alone see any potential threats. 

The female imposter laid down on the bed next to Lime, deciding to feign sleep to lower the third imposter’s guard. Purple was almost actually falling asleep when the doors to medbay slammed shut. Despite not facing it, the imposter could tell that the vent had been opened. 

As the ominous presence drew nearer, Purple bolted to her feet, leveling the tranquilizer gun at none other than Green himself. The third imposter was surprised at first, but then his midsection opened up, revealing a large mouth filled with teeth. 

“Well, well, well. I wasn’t expecting to find another crewmate here. No matter, just more for me to eat.”


	17. Brown

Brown listened intently for the third imposter, laying beneath one of the beds in medbay with his ear pressed (as best as he could while wearing helmet) to the floor. He almost missed the clanking of something moving inside the vent, followed by said vent opening. The medbay doors shut loudly, catching Brown off guard.

The hidden imposter watched as the green suited third emerged from the vent and into medbay. Brown quickly sent a message to Red and Black, alerting them of the creature’s presence. He was about to launch himself from his hiding spot and grab the imposter’s leg when he heard the other alien speak. 

“Well, well, well. I wasn’t expecting to find another crewmate here. No matter, just more for me to eat.”

This was followed by the sound of something clattering to the floor. Brown caught sight of Purple’s tranquilizer gun skidding towards the now shut doors. The navigator slid out from under the bed, catching sight of the creature behind the maiming of Lime and death of Blue.

Purple’s wrist was being restrained by Green’s long tongue. Small barbs covered the appendage, tearing through the material of the female imposter’s suit. The third imposter seemed preoccupied with taunting the biologist, allowing Brown to grab on of his legs and topple him over.

The violet suited imposter used Green’s sudden lack of balance to jump onto him, knees first. Purple straddled the now fully unshifted imposter, her knees digging into his arms and pinning him to the floor. The beast-like man snarled, trying to knock her off.

Brown watched as his partner doubled her efforts to subdue the third imposter. Violet gloves were launched across the room as inky black tentacles restrained Green’s flailing arms. 

“”Azrael! The gun!””

As Brown fumbled for the tranquilizer gun, the third imposter began to laugh hysterically, “”Two more imposters? Now that’s a twist.””

Having finally gotten ahold of the gun, Brown aimed it at the unruly alien beneath Purple. Green’s mouth shot open, three tongues darting out. One of the tongues tried to snatch the gun in Brown’s hand, the other two grabbed Purple by the waist and throat, suspending the woman in the air.

The biologist’s tentacles immediately reached for the tongues that had ensnared her. Her tendrils began to drip an almost black fluid, as the barbs on Green’s tongues began to cut into her appendages.

Brown shot Green, narrowly avoiding hitting his partner, who the third imposter had attempted to use as a meat shield. 

Purple’s tentacles retracted at the sound of the medbay door locks disengaging. The metal doors slid open, Red and Black rushing in, each brandishing their weapon of choice. 

Despite the tranquilizer dart in his thigh, Green showed no signs of slowing, continuing to tighten his grip on Purple, who was trying desperately to get free. Red leveled his gun at the imposter’s head, trying to get a clear shot. Knowing Red, and his blatant disregard for the lives of those he deemed unimportant, Brown disarmed the trigger happy captain.

Red started to yell at the navigator for taking his weapon, quieted when Brown shoved the tranquilizer gun into his hands.

Brown took initiative, feinting a shot from the right so Green moved Purple there to block the bullet. As the third imposter did that, the navigator fired three bullets into the alien’s chest. Green’s grip on the biologist loosened, the female imposter taking the chance to break out, hitting the medbay floor fairly hard. 

In retaliation to the navigator’s attack, Green swiped at him with one of his tongues, the appendage slicing through Brown’s suit and skin with ease. The other two attempted to restrain him, as they had done Purple on seconds earlier. 

Brown cried out as leg was slashed by Green, dropping the gun to the floor. Black, who had been watching from the far wall, rushed the third imposter. Electricity crackled as the tall crewmate jammed the baton into Green’s stomach mouth. 

The stun seemed to slow the alien for the moment, allowing Black to step in front of Brown. The security guard seemed determined to protect the beige suited imposter, it was almost touching in a way. 

Crewmate crushes aside, Brown watched in horror as Green made a grab for Lime’s still unconscious body. Purple slammed her body into the alien’s, still ready to fight despite the injuries she had sustained. The female imposter had succeeded in knocking the third to the floor. 

Before he could get up again, the biologist leapt onto one of the beds, jumping down onto Green’s chest. This was followed up by Red shooting him with another tranquilizer dart. The alien’s movements ceased, Purple stepping off his prone body, looking worse for wear.

“We need to toss him out of the airlock,” Brown panted, grimacing at the blood dripping from his wounds.

The imposter made to pick up the unconscious alien, stopped by Black putting an arm in front of him.

“I’ll take care of it,” The security guard turned to Red, “Override the airlock.”

The captain, looking shaky from the encounter, nodded, “R-right.”

Black hoisted Green’s body over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. The security guard gave the two injured imposters a concerned glance before exiting the medbay. Red left without a word to either, likely eager to be rid of an imposter.

Brown walked over to Purple, his partner now rummaging through the refrigerator in the corner of the room. The female imposter pulled out a bag of blood, poking a hole in it with her finger. 

Unlike Brown, Purple’s blood was much darker than red, nearly black in color. He watched as she poured a sizable amount onto her injuries then onto the floor. She tucked the empty bag into her pocket.

“”Cover for me. I’m gonna tend to these,”” the imposter gestured to the circular gashes on her neck and waist, “”in my room.””

A soft smile crossed Purple’s tired face, “”We did it, Azrael,”” she briefly glanced at Lime, who was still sleeping as far as Brown could tell, “”I’m probably gonna be resting for the next few days. Can I count on you to not kill during that time?””

Brown sighed, “”Got it. Make sure you take care of yourself. I can bring you some real food if you need it.””

Purple began to head to her room, Brown watching as the other imposter stumbled down the hall to the living quarters. He heard the sound of a door sliding opened followed by a wet “thud”. 

The imposter tried to get to his feet and check on her, legs giving out beneath him. Brown attempted to prop himself up on his hands, panicking when his arms also gave out. The navigator had to assume that Green had some sort of muscle relaxant or something with a similar effect on his tongues. 

Brown let out a mix between a growl and a sigh, frustrated with his situation. He hoped Purple was faring better than him, although if the sound he had heard from the direction of her room was any indication, that was unlikely. The imposter weakly rolled onto his back, staring into the painfully bright lights in medbay. 

Black would be back soon, a thought that for some reason brought the imposter comfort. He may have been frustrated with Purple’s attachment to Lime, but Brown knew damn well that he was obsessed with the dark suited security guard.


	18. Black

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to apologize for not uploading recently. I've been bogged down by a bunch of schoolwork and the like. After 12/4 I'll definitely be uploading more frequently. Sorry to keep you guys wait and thank you for the continued support

Black tossed Green’s beaten body into the airlock, feeling no pity for the alien who had killed Blue and seriously injured Lime. Red stood at the panel by the entrance to the airlock, overriding the restrictions to open said space door. By using his solo button use, the captain was able to begin the ejection process.

The security guard watched as the barrier of metal and glass closed between them and the imposter. He let out a sigh of relief when the alien’s unconscious body was jettisoned into space. The captain looked equally relieved, falling to he knees, “Fuck that was stressful.”

“At least we have one less imposter on the ship.”

Black looked back at medbay, catching Purple stumbling down the hallway to her living quarters, a worrying amount of blood dripping from her body. The security guard rushed after her, wondering why she hadn’t just waited to receive medical attention in the room dedicated to it.

The crewmate was unable to reach the biologist before she locked herself in her room. Black could hear muffled thump from the hallway, his worry for Purple increasing. A similar noise echoed from medbay, the security guard’s concern shifting towards the injured navigator. 

Making his way towards the medical wing, the security guard caught sight of Brown, splayed out, stomach up, on the floor. He seemed to notice Black’s approach, as the navigator weakly raised a hand, “H-hey Black. Care to help me up?”

Without a second thought, Black scooped Brown up into his arms, ignoring the crewmate’s startled yelp. To the security guard’s surprise, the navigator’s body felt incredibly limp, eerily similar to what Lime had been like after being attacked.

“What happened?” Black asked after placing his fellow crewmate on one of the medbay beds. 

Brown sighed, “I don’t know. A minute ago, I felt just fine, but now I feel too weak to stand.” 

The navigator attempted to reach for his helmet, his hands fumbling for the latches that kept it attached. Black, understanding what Brown was trying to do, helped disengage the locks that held the helmet in place. The security guard pulled the headgear off, placing it beneath the bed.

For the first time, Black was able to see Brown’s face without any obstructions. From what the security guard had seen of the other crewmate, he was quite handsome. Pale skin, an elegant nose, blond-white hair forming a widow’s peak on the navigator’s forehead. 

Brown reminded Black of an elf, his appearance exuding elegance and grace despite his more flirtatious demeanor. The navigator must have taken notice of the security guard’s fixation on him, as he smiled slyly, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“Sorry,” Black turned away, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“Don’t worry about it,” the navigator chuckled, “I am aware of my charming wiles and beautiful face.”

The security guard changed the subject, “How’s your leg?”

“Mmmh? Oh yeah. I don’t really know, I can’t feel it.”

“Should I get White?” Black made to leave when Brown weakly grabbed his arm.

“It’s fine. It’s probably something weird Green had on one of those tongue things. Imposters are wild.”

“Do you want me to say?”

Black almost missed the brief blush that crossed the navigator’s face, “T-that would be nice. But if you have other stuff to do that’s fine. I wouldn’t want to keep you from more important matters.”

The security guard sat on the bed across from Brown, gazing at the other man. He had never noticed just how tall the navigator was, Black was seen as a freak of nature to others, coming in at 6’6”, but the other crewmate was only a few inches shorter than him, being almost 6’2”. 

They sat in silence for a bit, the only sounds in the room being the rhythmic beating of Lime’s heart monitor. Black felt uncomfortable with how quiet it was, wanting to strike up a conversation, but not knowing what to say. Brown seemed to pick up on the security guard’s awkwardness and began to speak.

“So how are you feeling about all this? What with Green being an imposter and all?”

“I’m just glad he’s gone. Red was able to get the airlock open and eject him. Although we may have been able to get more information out of him on any other imposters on the ship.”

Brown was silent for a few moments, “You think there’s more?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“Fair enough. I guess we can’t really rule that out yet. Anyone you suspect?”

Black pursed his lips, something was off about the way the navigator had asked the question. The way he spoke seemed like he was almost fishing for information. It wasn’t necessarily a red flag, but the tone of his voice was strange for someone who had just been attacked by an alien.

“Why are you so calm?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“You’re pretty relaxed for someone who just fought an imposter. You don’t seem too worried about Purple either.”

Brown exhaled, “Don’t get me wrong, I tried to tell her to stay here and wait for help but she decided to go off on her own. I want to see if she’s okay,” the navigator flexed his fingers, “but I’m not really able to do that.”

The injured crewmate shifted onto his stomach, Black watching as the man struggled to roll over. It seemed as if Green had done a number on the navigator, despite the minimal severity of his wounds. If Brown’s theory about the alien was right, then they were lucky to have gotten him off the ship before he could rack up more kills.

“Do you think that has something to do with how bad Lime was hurt?” 

“Probably. Purple and I only have surface wounds, Lime was impaled on one of those tongue things. I can only imagine how much worse off he is.”

Black glanced at the chemist, still lying unconscious on one of the medbay beds. Tufts of dirty blond hair stuck out from the bandages wrapped around his head. Lime didn’t look to great at the moment, but at least he was alive. 

“Yeah…”


End file.
